Dover Road area set up for hobbyists to fly drones, 2nd dedicated site in S'pore

Hobbyists can now fly their unmanned aircrafts at another place in Singapore: Dover Road, the site of the former Warren Golf Course.

Launched by Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat on Jul. 6, the Unmanned Aircraft Flying Area (UAFA) at Dover is the second dedicated area for recreational unmanned flying in Singapore.

Unmanned aircrafts include drones and remote-controlled kites.

So fly

In Singapore, the recreational flying of drones is limited to permitted flying areas and outside no-fly zones.

The first UAFA was launched at Pandan Reservoir in July 2022 to provide a community space for enthusiasts to gather and interact.

While the first site was primarily over water, the new area at Dover offers 0.6 hectares of flying over land and greenery.

This makes for a more beginner-friendly experience, as compared to flying over waters which may be "challenging for some beginners", said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

As with the Pandan Reservoir site, the new area comes equipped with basic on-site amenities like tables and benches.

Feather flags have also been set up to demarcate the boundaries, CAAS said.

The space will be active until June 2025. Hobbyists who are interested in joining the UAFA community can join the group Telegram Chat, "UA Flying Areas" for updates.

Cheaper to fly

In addition, with the growing interest in unmanned aircraft light shows in Singapore, CAAS has reviewed its regulations for unmanned aircraft flying.

From Jul. 6, it will regulate unmanned aircraft light shows only on an operator-and-activity basis.

This means that operators no longer have to register each aircraft involved in the light show, reducing the regulatory burden and lowering costs, CAAS said.

Currently, an operator will need to pay about S$25,000 to conduct a light show involving 1,000 new unmanned aircraft.

Under the new regulations, the operators will only need to pay S$500 for the first application — regardless of the number of aircraft flown — and S$425 for any subsequent applications at the same location, with the same aircraft type.

Hopefully, this means that you'll be able to get that dream drone proposal at a lower cost in future.

Related stories

Top image from CAAS and S Iswaran/Facebook